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DES Gateway Requests

Please see a below a list of completed and current gateway requests.

Current:

Comissioning Involvement Group: Living Options Devon was commissioned by Devon County Council’s Joint Engagement Board’s to recruit more participants for their Commissioning Involvement Group. This group applies the real world practical knowledge and experience of service users and carers to the commissioning and monitoring process. This group also nominates service users and carers to serve on contract specification and evaluation panels when possible.

National Framework for Sign Language Interpreters: Living Options facilitated a series of workshops for BSL users to feedback on the new National Framework for Sign Language Interpreters. These workshops focused on:

The online guidance about sign language interpreting

How well the new arrangements have been communicated to the Deaf community

How user-friendly the support card is, and whether we need a Devon version

How well the pathway to interpreting is working in practice

and thus, the effectiveness staff guidance which supports the above.

Direct Payments: Living Options facilitated a workshop for Devon County Council with people with lived experience of disability or a long term health condition to help identify the kind of information that people need to access around employing Personal Assistants (PAs). The workshop was focused on helping to identify the information which needs to be included in our on-line Personal Assistants Register under the headings “Support for PAs” and “Support for Employers”.

Autism Involvement Group: Living Options facilitated a series for meetings to develop and support the representation of people who are Autistic on the Autism Board. These meetings focused on:

To advise on engagement and consultation and to agree the focus of consultation and engagement with the Autism Board,

To establish partnership working arrangements between the Board and its Task Group and to accept actions from the Autism Board

Establishing the Autism Board as a platform to raise issues coming through the Autism Task Group and its networks.

Safeguarding Adults Sub Group: The Devon Safeguarding Adults Board would like to understand what is important to people with health and social care needs, including their family and carers. To do this, Living Options are setting up a Community Reference Group with Healthwatch Devon and we are looking for people who know and care about the safeguarding process to get involved.

Learning Disability Accessible Website: In partnership with the Devon Learning Disability Partnership Board, Living Options has been commissioned to develop an accessible website using the Keys to Citizenship model. Consultation workshops have been facilitated to develop the website and the content included under each ‘key’ with people with learning disabilities. The website is be suitable for people with learning disabilities with functionality to have large text as standard and for images/symbols, documents and videos to be uploaded. The website is supported and hosted by Cosmic http://www.cosmic.org.uk

Reshaping Personal Care Mental Heath Support Worker: The Reshaping Personal Care Group contains a diverse number of people receiving personal social care at home who are able to help shape implementation of the Living Well At Home contract for care regulated by the Care Quality Commission. What does the group do?

Aims to improve the care pathway from an assessment through to a personalised service which is much more flexible and responsive for individuals and their families.

Gives a direct view of the personal care journey from experience.

Developing a charter to improve personal care services

Devon People First Mapping Project: In partnership with the Devon Learning Disability Partnership Board ,Devon People First have undertaken a Mapping Project: to map Learning Disability groups/meetings across the Devon County Council area through internet and phone research. This will include recording:

Group Name

Where they meet, when and how often

Key contact details

Activity undertaken

If it is listed on Pinpoint directory

If they are part of a wider organisation or not

An indication of number of people with LD they reach and if these people use DCC services or not.

The outcome of this mapping will be to update the Pinpoint and new Learning Disability website with this provision.

Promoting Independence and Assistive Technology Short Films (2 combined requests)​: We are looking for people who receive social care support to part in some short 1-2minute films. These films will go on the Devon County Council information website, to illustrate how independence has been promoted either via changes to social care practice or use of assistive technology.

Devon County Council (DCC) Adult Social Care Vision: Living Options facilitated workshops for Devon County Council to help develop their vision that through Adult Care and Health provision people can lead lives that are as Independent and as fulfilling as possible, through being Informed, Secure and Connected. The vision aims to be about how we can all work together rather than just about how Devon County Council provide services to fulfil its legal duties so it will be helpful to hear people’s views about how cooperative working between people and services in Devon can help promote a vision for adult care and health.

Health and Wellbeing Board Focus Group: Devon County Council has commissioned Living Options to facilitate meetings to talk about how to make information about the health and wellbeing of people living in Devon easier to understand and accessible.

Equality Reference Group Board Equalities Training: Devon County Council has commissioned Living Options to facilitate meetings to talk about how to make information about the health and wellbeing of people living in Devon easier to understand and accessible.

Carer Direct Payment

Advocacy Consultation: Living Options will be facilitating consultancy workshops for Advocacy clients via Vocal Advocacy, Young Devon, PDREC and Rethink to improve the quality of the Advocacy service. These workshops will be focusing on engagement work with clients to co-produce some of our thoughts regarding the advocacy contract e.g. marketing materials and evaluation processes.

Promoting Independence

Service User Direct Payment stage 2

Press Quotes

Health and Wellbeing Learning Disability Autism Groups

Joint Engagement Forum: Devon County Local Engagement Round-up. Feedback from participants in the last quarter’s activities and a preview of the next ones. Checking that we have done our best to enable service users to influence DCCs and other service provider’s work

NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group: Community Health and Wellbeing Services For Children and Young People in Devon (CYP) : Living Options has been commissioned to run a series of engagement workshops by Devon’s Clinical Commissioning Groups to ensure that the voices of CYP are heard as part of the Children’s Services Procurement process.

Completed:

Joint Engagement Forum

Reshaping Personal Care

Safeguarding Adults Form Test

Pinpoint Focus Group Test

Strategic Plan Focus Group

Statutory Carers Survey: Living Options convened three workshops at which carers were able to discuss the Devon results of the national statutory Carers Survey. A cross-section of different types of carers for adults receiving social care support were able to reflect on their own experiences. Feedback has informed action plans for implementation of the new Carers contract and DCC care management practice.

About Us

Living Options Devon is a well respected user-led organisation which works to ensure that people with disabilities and Deaf people can live the life they choose. Set up in 1990 LOD is a registered charity (Charity N0. 1102489) and a company limited by guarantee (No. 4925281). Based in Exeter and Barnstaple, our charitable aims mean we we can offer services across the South West and share good practice throughout the UK. Being led and run by people with disabilities and Deaf people ensures LOD has first hand knowledge and understanding of the issues facing service users and so is very well placed to increase the influence and voice of Deaf and disabled people. We do this by providing education, training and services which enable people to live the lives they choose.

We are happy to provide all information about Living Options Devon and its projects in alternative formats by request. Please contact us using the details above.